Janet DeCosta
Email: jdecosta@secillaw.com
Janet has represented clients in over 100 FINRA arbitrations and mediations and has appeared before most of the Washington, DC area state and federal courts, as well as before numerous courts throughout the country. Janet also has represented broker-dealers, brokers, investors, financial advisors, and firms in more than 50 SEC and FINRA regulatory investigations and litigation in a myriad of settings. She regularly handles cases involving transitions and terminations of financial advisors, both from the firm and individual financial advisor perspective. Janet also has served as primary outside counsel to a registered broker-dealer for 25 years.
Janet began her career as a litigator in the Honors Program of the U.S. Department of Justice. Her first cases involved stripping Nazi war criminals of their ill-gotten citizenship and deporting them from the U.S. As Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, she obtained the first conviction in the Fourth Circuit for major drug kingpins under the Continuing Criminal Enterprise Statute. As an Assistant Chief Trial Attorney with the Securities and Exchange Commission, she was lead attorney in litigating the securities fraud case against the CEO of the largest insurance company to have gone bankrupt at that time.
Janet honed her skills as a lawyer in prosecuting these extraordinarily complex cases. They are the same skills she uses as an advocate for her clients. Clients understand that with her, they can be confident that there is no attorney who will be better prepared, have a better handle on the issues, or be more vigorous and diligent in representing their interests than Janet.
The client is the driving force in Janet's practice. She always keep in mind that she represents real people with real issues. Clients may be worried about their life savings, livelihood, career, or business. Janet always treats her clients with respect and dignity, keeps them informed about their case, and does everything she can to reduce their stress and anxiety so that they can sleep more easily at night.
Admitted in the District of Columbia.